DCCC, DavidsonWorks provide job seekers career connections

Tuesday

Apr 2, 2013 at 3:48 PM

A career fair might not land you a job right on the spot, but it will provide an avenue for an invaluable experience — connections.

BY REBEKAH CANSLER MCGEEThe Dispatch

A career fair might not land you a job right on the spot, but it will provide an avenue for an invaluable experience — connections.Davidson County Community College and DavidsonWorks will team up to host a Spring Job Fair for the community on Tuesday. "Originally we wanted to offer the job fair to graduating students, however, it grew from there to include the entire community," said Anissa Causey, project coordinator for the North Carolina Advanced Manufacturing Alliance at DCCC. "Our goal is to connect job seekers with potential employers."The list of registered employers includes more than 30 companies in the Triad area. Employers will be searching for everything from positions in home-based businesses to warehousing and customers service positions to manufacturing. Causey added that to be a part of the fair, the companies must have open positions. "We partnered with DavidsonWorks because they have relationships with local businesses and their role in the community is to provide workforce development solutions to create good workforce ," Causey said.Cris Waugh, business services job developer for DavidsonWorks, said she urged job seekers to attend the fair, but come prepared."Look at the companies and then look at their website. Many employers have their jobs listed on their website. Learn about the jobs and learn about the company," Waugh said. "If you fit their qualifications, have an application already filled out and be ready to present as if you were going for an interview."The registered companies are Alpha Healthcare of the Carolinas, Arneg, Atrium Windows and Doors, Avon, Caterpillar, Comfort Care Homecare, Davidson County Broadcasting, Davidson County Government, Defender Services, Elite Resources, Home Instead Senior Care, Hughes Supply, IV-S Metal Stamping, City of Lexington and Lexington Police Department, Lexington Healthcare Center, Lolly Wolly Doodle, Lowe's Home Improvement, Lowe's Millwork, Manpower, Mary Kay, Maurices, Old Dominion, PPG Industries, Piedmont Crossing, Pine Ridge Rehabilitation Center, Primerica, Solstas Lab Partners, Team Telecom, TIMCO, Triumph Actuation Systems, Unilin Flooring, United Furniture Industries, Vitacost, Wake Forest Baptist Health — Lexington Medical Center."Because so many people are at job fairs, you need to know what positions are available at a certain company," Waugh said. "If you're waiting to talk to Caterpillar, you haven't done your research and they don't have any positions available for your skillset, you're wasting your time. Try to be proactive."In addition to providing job seekers the opportunity to meet with representatives from Triad companies, the job fair will boast three workshops. DavidsonWorks' representative will present "The Top 5 Skills Employers Want You to Have" and Joel Leonard will speak on the topic of "Give Work a Chance." Leonard is the host and producer of Skilltv.net, an online resource to help with economic, workforce and skill development.The job fair will also include tours of the DCCC campus and its state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing labs."Our workshop will focus on the soft skills such as getting to work on time, giving 100 percent while on the job, getting along with others — things that we learned a long ago but might have slipped away over time," Waugh said. The Spring Job Fair will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday at Davidson County Community College in the Brinkley Gym. Workshops will be provided at 10:30 a.m. on the topic of "The Top 5 Skills Employers Want You to Have" and at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the topic of "Give Work a Chance."Rebekah Cansler McGee can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 228, or at rebekah.mcgee@the-dispatch.com.